Apparatus for the treatment of materials.



R 0. E. MARK. APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF MATERIALS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 8, 13397.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

FIQ.

CHARLIE E. MARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF MATERIALS.

rosaaso.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

Application filed November 8, 1897. Serial No. 657,786.-

T0 allot-71.0922. it 122 (1g concern Be it known that I, CHARLIE E. MARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in an Apparatus for the Treatment of Materials, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of materials; and more particularly to apparatus comprising a porous hearth through which air or gas is passed for treating material placed upon this hearth.

I have chosen to illustrate my invention in connection with a furnace, in which metal is to be melted by fumes of combustion passing over it while it is deposited upon the hearth. It will be readily understood, however, that I I do not wish to limit myself to such use,

as many other uses to which my invention is applicable will readily suggest themselves.

Among the objects of my invention as applied to furnaces are to secure maximum efficiency and a thorough melting act-ion, and to obtainsuch results in an economical, simple, effective and inexpensive manner.

In the furnace characterized by my invention a blast of air or like oxygen containing gas is forced through a hearth which is permeable to air but impermeable to metal and metal to be melted, into the metal lying upon the hearth. In this way the air can burn out the combustible portion of the metal and so materially aid the melting action. without removing from such action any of the advantages incident to its performance in a reverberatory furnace.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a reverberatory furnace embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same.

In the furnace which I have shown in the drawings to illustrate my invention, the metal to be melted is placed upon the bowlshaped top of a hearth A, which is set in a suitable substantially rectangular framework or masonry B. The metal thus positioned is melted by the fumes of combustion which pass over it below the upper wall 7) of the masonry B, on their way from the fire in the fire box C at the forward end of the masonry B, to the chimney or smoke Stilt K D which rises from the rear end of such masonry. lVhile the metal is thus arranged upon the hearth A, air is forced upward through the upper portion of the hearth into it, such upper portion of the hearth A being for that purpose composed of material which is per meable to air but is impermeable to metal. As a result the air can pass through the hearth A and into the metal lying upon it, while the latter is prevented from working downward into the hearth. One material which I have found very suitable for this purpose is silica sand. As a simplecand convenient arrangement for thus permitting air to be forced through the hearth A into the metal lying upon it, I have shown embedded in the hearth A a horizontal series of 1011- gitudinally arranged pipes E which are connected at their rear ends to a suitable transversely extending supply pipe F and which are perforated at their upper sides so as to allow the passage of the air therefrom into the hearth A; it being understood that the pipe F is connected with an air pump or fan or other suitable means for supplying compressed air. I desirably arrange a layer of asbestos fiber immediately RlJOXG the air pipeswhen silica sand is used, in order to prevent the latter from entering the apertures in the pipes. In order to prevent the escape of the air downward from the perforated pipes E the portion a of the hearth A below such pipes is desirablyconstructed of material which is impermeable to air. I find concrete a very satisfactory material for this purpose. a Y

The fire box G could, of course, be of any suitable construction. As a preferred arrangement, however, it is provided with "a flueG which receives fresh air from the air chamber H below the fire box grate by way of suitable connecting flues J, and which allows the air thus received to mingle with the fumes of combustion after they have left the fire box, so as to cause a thorough and complete combustion of any particles of fuel which have been carried from the latter in an unconsumed condition.

This 'fire box arrangement alone is not claimed in this application.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire to secure -hea-rth to themater ial.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, material, and means 'for 1ntro duc1ng air or 1 the combination of a porous hearth supportother gases to said chamber or passage. mg the materlai to be treated; and means for In testimony whereof Iaffix my slgnature' passing the air or'gases through the porous 1n presence of two Witnesses.

'3. In an apparatusof the class described CHARLIE the combination of porous material for su' \Vitnesses: porting'the materlal to be treated, an a 1r L. M. BULKLEY, chamber or passage underneath sald porous (1C. BULKLEY.

Copies of thispatent may be obtained for five cents-each, by addressing the Cdminissioner of Patents, Washington,.D. C. 

